Apparatus for simulating a snowfall



March 4, 1952 Filed July 15, 1949 J. HORMANN 2,587,620 APPARATUS FORSIMULATING A sNdwF'ALL 2 SHEETS-SHEET l March 4, 1952 HORMANN 2,587,620

APPARATUS FOR SIMULATING A SNOWFALL Filed July 15, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 25&5.

t 0 29364 flak/WWW 27 7 BY I Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

PPARATUS FOR SIMULATING A SNGWFALL J osef Hermann, Bellaire, N. Y.Application July 15, 1949, Serial No. 104.847

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus for simulating a snow fall andparticularly to an apparatus which is designed for use in displaywindows.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a device that willcause the permanent fall of artificial snow fiakes along a relativelywide area in a display window which is decorated as a winter scene.

It is another object of my invention to provide a device which collectsthe fallen artificial snow flakes and conveys the same to an upperposition from which it falls down again over a relatively wide area. 7

It is still another object of my invention to provide a device whichcarries, artificial snow flakes to an upper position and which isequipped with'means for releasing; the snow flakes at predeterminedpositions.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a device with meansfor releasing are tificial snow flakes simultaneously at a plurality ofpredetermined positions.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention will be clearlyunderstood in connection with the accompanying drawings in which.

Figure l is a front elevational view of a display window with a winterscene, showing a snow fall;

Fig. 2 is aside view of the device according to the present inventionpartly in section;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of; the device, part of which is broken awayfor the'purpose of better demonstration;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a part of the device, a portion of whichis broken away for the purpose of better demonstration;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the device;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary. view of a variation of the drive;

Fig. 7 is a schematic elevation of another embodiment ofthe device; and

Fig. 81s a detail of the device shown in Fig. 7 on a larger scale.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to-Figs. 1 to 6, thepresent invention achieves the above stated objects by providingpreferably endless conveyor means which are equipped with a plurality ofblades or fins disposed inv differentpredetermined angles to theconveyor means in such manner that the blades carry artificial snowflakes of plastic, paper or any other suitable material to an upper zoneof the device, to be released simultaneously over a wide area whichcorresponds about with the width of the device. If the device is thuspositioned in a display window of a width about equal the width of thedevice, and the entire window is decorated as a winter scenery, thecontinuous fall of snow over the entire scenery may be simulated;

The embodiment shown in Figs. 2 to. 6' comprises a support I the upperextension 2 of which carries a horizontally disposed axle 3.

A wheel i is mounted preferably by means, of a ball bearing 5 forrotation upon the axle 3. The wheel 4 comprises a disk 8 which carriesat its periphery a plurality of bars i in forward: direction and thefront ends of the bars! sup! port a ring 8 which at least partly servesthe purpose of receiving one end of a plurality of blades 9 disposedaround the entire wheel. 4, while the other end of the said blades 5 issecured in, the disk 6.

It is an essential feature of the present invention to dispose. each ofthe blades 9 at a predetermined angle in such manner that the snowflakes, received by the blades 9 when in their lower position on thewheel 4, are carried to the upper position on the latter upon turn-' ingof the wheel 4, yet the snow flakes are released at a point on the wheel4 which is determined by the angle at which the blade 9 is disposed inthe wheel. Thus by arranging the blades 9 at different angles, asclearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, some of the blades 9 release the snowflakes before reaching the highest point on the wheel l, while otherswill be carried beyond the highest point. In this way snow fall may besimulated over a great width of the device, which will be slightly lessthan the diameter of the wheel.

In order to provide the possibility of adjusting each one of the blades9, preferably prope means for easy turning of the blades along itslongitudinal axis and for securing the same in the desired position aredevised. By example, as shown in Fig. 2, each blade 9 is equipped withpins ii! at their ends which pins It are disposed along the longitudinalaxis of the blades and enter corresponding openings H and I2, in thedisk 6 and in the ring 8', respectively. They retain their positions byfriction between the pins It and the openin s II and ll, though otherconventional securing means may be provided. The front of the wheel 4 iscovered with a transparent sheet I3 of glass, plastic material or thelike, though it is also possible in some cases to use a sheet ofsuitable color. The pe riphery of the wheel 4 is likewise covered with asheet l4 of the same material as the sheet [3, which sheet l4 serves thepurpose of providing light effects by means of light beams (not shown)through the slots formed between each pair of adjacent blades 9.

Behind and spaced apart from the disk 6 a toothed gear I is rotatablymounted on the axle 3 by means of a second ball bearing l6 which gear [5meshes another gear I! which is driven by an electric motor over areducing gear (not shown) or any other conventional drive. A pluralityof bars 18, Fig. 5 shows by example six bars, connect the gear l5 withthe periphery of the disk 6, in order to secure a smooth turning of thewheel 4 on the axle 3 without any vibration. Instead of driving thewheel 4 by means of the gear l5, the periphery of the disk 4 may beequipped with a circular rack l5 (Fig. 6) and the gear l'l meshes inthis variation the said rack l5.

Since it is desirable to cover up all rotating parts from a viewer ofthe display window, means are disposed in front of the rotating disk 6,which means are stationary, and enhance the illusion of falling snow ona winter scenery. In order to. achieve this end the axle 3 extends intothe wheel 4 and the front end of the axle 3 supports a stationary diskIS the front of which carries the picture of a winter scenery (see Fig.l). A plurality of bars 20 extend from the periphery of the disk H3 inforward direction which support a number, for example four, ring members2| which are disposed like wings on a stage to cover up completely therotating blades 9 from a viewer of the display window while freelypermitting the fall of the artificial snow between each pair of adjacentring members 2|. To serve the same purpose ring sector like parts 22 maybe additionally secured to the lower portions of the most forward ringmember 2| which parts 22 are of somewhat greater width than the ringmembers 2| and each of the parts extends over about at least 45".

The thus described device operates in the following manner:

. Before closing the front of the wheel 4 the required quantity ofartificial snow flakes is inserted into the wheel 4, which snow flakeswill accumulate on the blades 9 which are at the lower portion of thewheel 4. Upon starting rotation of the wheel 4 by means of an electricmotor or any other drive, the snow flakes will be carried to the upperportion of the wheel 4 and depending upon the angle at which each one ofthe blades 9 has been set, the snow flakes will be released at differentpositions of the wheel simultaneously and simulate a snow fallpractically over the entire width of the wheel in front of the winterscenery provided on the stationary disk [9. The; fallen snow willaccumulate again on the blades which happen to be at the bottom of thewheel and by continuous rotation of the wheel this process will berepeated and thereby provide a continuous snow fall.

While it is merely essential to provide a plurality of blades disposedat diiferent predetermined angles which are carried from a lower zone,where they receive the fallen snow, to a higher zone, where they releasethe snow at different point depending upon the angle of each blade, theembodiment, as described above, in form of a wheel, is preferable inview of its simple and economic construction and its easy operation.

The present invention is, however, by no means limited to a wheel as acarrier means of the blades 9 from a lower to a higher zone where theyare released.

Any convenient carrier means may be provided and one second embodimentis shown in Figs. 7 and 8 in form of a conveyor belt 23. As shown in thedrawing, preferably five rollers 24 are provided, which rollers carry anendless belt 23. The inner face of the belt 23 carries a plurality ofblades 9 which are disposed at predetermined angles relative to theinner face of the belt in order to release the lifted snow flakes atdifierent points during the travel of the belt. Preferably the upperwheel is adjustable to regulate the tension of the belt 23. The rollers24 are designed in such manner .that they freely permit of movement ofthe blades 9 through the rollers 24. One of the rollers 24 carries agear 25 which meshes a pinion 26. The latter is connected with anelectric motor over a gear reducer (not shown) or with any other drivingsource. Any convenient means as a frame 21 may be provided to cover upthe belt convey-or from a viewer of the display window.

It is to be understood that while in the drawings a wheel of circularshape and a conveyor belt on five rollers have been disclosed, thisshowing is by example only and the wheelmay be of hexagonal shape andthe conveyor belt may be mounted on only three or more rollers.

While I have disclosed two different embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given byexample only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the inventionbeing determined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for simulating snow fall by means of artificial snowflakes, endless conveyor means adapted to carry artificial snow flakesfrom a lower zone to an upper zone of said device, means for drivingsaid conveyor means, a plurality of blade members secured to saidconveyor means, said blade members being disposed at difierentpredetermined angles relative to a vertical plane through thelongitudinal axis of said blades in order to release said snow flakesover a horizontally extending area when the blades are brought into theupper zone of said device, and stationary means disposed in front ofsaid moving conveyor means, in order to cover up all moving parts from afront viewer of the device.

2. The device, as set forth in claim 1, which includes means to permitadjusting the angle of said blade members.

3. In a device for simulating snow fall by means of artificial snowflakes, an axle, means for supporting said axle, a wheel rotatablymounted on said axle, means for turning said wheel, said wheelcomprising a first disk, av plurality of bars extending in axialdirection from the periphery of said disk, and a ring member carried bysaid bars, a plurality of blade members disposed between said disk andsaid ring member, said blade members being disposed at differentpredetermined angles in order to release said snow flakes over ahorizontally extending area when the blades are brought into the upperzone of said wheel, a stationary second disk mounted on said axle infront of said first disk, a plurality of rods extending from theperiphery of said second disk in axial direction and at least onecircular wing member carried by said rods, said second disk'and' saidring member being adapted to hide the rotat-. ing wheel from a viewer ofthe device.

4. The device, as set forth in claim 3, which includes pin membersextending coaxially from the ends of each of said blade members andopenings disposed in said first disk and said ring member, respectively,receiving said pin members, thereby permitting angular adjustment ofeach of said blade members relative to said first disk.

5. The device, as set forth in claim 3, which includes sector likeextension members secured to the lower portion of said wing member.

6. In a device for simulating snow fall by means of artificial snowflakes, a conveyor belt, at least three rollers carrying said belt, atleast two of said rollers being disposed spaced apart in a horizontalplane, a, plurality of blade members supported by the inner face of saidconveyor belt and disposed at different predetermined angles relative toa vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of said blades in orderto release said snow flakes over a horizontally extending area when theblades are brought into the upper zone of said conveyor belt system, anda stationary frame disposed in front of said conveyor belt therebycovering up the moving belt from a viewer of the device.

7. In a device for simulating snow fall by means of artificial snowflakes, means for conveying 6 artificial snow flakes from a lower zoneto an upper zone of said device, a plurality of blade members secured tosaid conveying means, means for moving said blade members across saiddevice, said blade members being disposed at difierent predeterminedangles relative to a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis ofsaid blades releasing said snow flakes over a horizontally extendingarea when the blades are brought into the upper zone of said device andstationary means disposed in front of said conveyor means covering upall moving parts from a front viewer of the device.

JOSEF HORMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the -file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

